Edge
Adam Joseph Copeland'' (born October 30, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name '''Edge. He is currently signed to the WWE for Extreme (WWEFE or just WWE) promotion, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), on its SmackDown! brand. Copeland was trained by former professional wrestlers Sweet Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchinson. Throughout the 1990s, he wrestled in North American independent promotions early in his career. During his time in these promotions, he competed in singles and tag team competition, the latter with Christian Cage, his storyline brother. In 1997, Copeland signed a developmental deal with the WWF and began competing for the company the following year. After signing with the WWF, he began competing under the ring name Edge. In June 1999, he won the WWF Intercontinental Championship, making it his first title reign with the company. In mid-1999, he and Cage, now going by just Christian, formed an alliance of their own, which led to them winning the WWF Tag Team Championship on seven different occasions. During this time, they gained notoriety in the tag team division, partly due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. The team, however, parted ways in 2001. Overall, Edge has won 27 Championships in WWE, including five World Championships (three WWE Championships and two World Heavyweight Championships), seven Intercontinental Championships, one United States Championship, 14 Tag Team Championships (a record 11 World Tag Team Titles and two WWE Tag Team Championships). In addition to his Championship accolades, Copeland won the 2001 King of the Ring tournament and the first-ever Money in the Bank ladder match in 2005. Aside from professional wrestling, Copeland has appeared in the 2000 fantasy film Highlander: Endgame and made guest appearances on television shows, including The Weakest Link, Mind of Mencia, Deal or No Deal, and MADtv. Early life Copeland was born on October 30, 1973 in Orangeville, Ontario, Canada, to Judy Copeland, a single mother, who worked two jobs to support her son. To this day, he has never met his father, nor seen a picture of him. At a young age, he became interested in professional wrestling. His favorite wrestlers included Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. When he was eighteen, Copeland won an essay contest, with Sully's Gym offering free wrestling training to whoever could write a good essay, explaining why they would want to become a professional wrestler. As the result of his win, he was trained by Sweet Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchinson Copeland put his wrestling aspirations aside, to help pay the bills. He held numerous jobs and decided to go to Humber College, where he graduated with a diploma in radio broadcasting. Professional wrestling career Early career Throughout the 1990s, Copeland wrestled on the independent circuit in Ontario and the Great Lakes region of the United States under the name Sexton Hardcastle. He became a part of the tag team Sex and Violence with Joe Legend. During 1997, Sex and Violence became part of a larger stable known as Thug Life, made up of Legend, Hardcastle, Christian Cage (Copeland's childhood friend Jason Reso), Bill Skullion, and Rhino Richards. During his independent career, he won the ICW/MWCW Midwest Unified Tag Title holder alongside Joe. The duo of Hardcastle and Cage were known as Hard Impact before changing their name to The Suicide Blondes. They also worked in Japan under the name the Canadian Rockers. Copeland also once wrestled under the name Damon Striker (although Copeland writes it as Damien Stryker in his book) on an episode of WCW Pro against Meng and Kevin Sullivan. In his autobiography, Copeland states that it was his worst ring name to date. Copeland was asked to wrestle in a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) match in 1996, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Canadian wrestler Bret Hart, who saw Copeland wrestle, put in a good word for Copeland, which ultimately resulted in Copeland receiving a developmental contract with the WWF in 1997. Coincidentally, Copeland as Sexton Hardcastle first wrestled for the WWF the night after Hart left the company. World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1998–present) Debut, Edge and Christian (1998–2001) In 1998, Copeland made his WWF television debut on the June 22 episode of Raw is War as Edge, a loner character who entered the arena through the crowd for his matches. His character's persona included him aimlessly walking around the city streets and assaulting innocent pedestrians. His first televised match was against Jose Estrada, Jr., which ended prematurely by countout when Edge performed a somersault senton from the ring to the outside, legitimately injuring Estrada's neck. In his first pay-per-view match at SummerSlam in August, he served as Sable's mystery tag team partner against Jacqueline and Marc Mero, and bodyslammed Sable onto Mero in a pinning position to pick up the win. at King of the Ring 2000.]] Edge was then placed in a feud against the vampire wrestler Gangrel. During the feud, Gangrel introduced Christian Cage (now going by just "Christian"), Edge's storyline brother, as his ally. Eventually, Gangrel and Christian convinced Edge to join them, and the three of them formed an alliance known as The Brood. The Brood as a whole was later abducted by and converted into The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness. In May 1999, the Brood broke away from The Ministry after Christian was attacked by Ken Shamrock and forced to reveal the location of the captive Stephanie McMahon. The Undertaker chose to have Christian punished for his trespass, but Edge and Gangrel stood by him and betrayed The Undertaker leading to a brief feud with the Ministry. Edge captured his first singles championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship, on July 24, 1999, defeating Jeff Jarrett at a house show in Toronto, Ontario. He lost the title the next night to Jarrett at Fully Loaded. Later in the year, he was placed in a storyline angle with The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff). Soon, however, Gangrel betrayed both Edge and Christian and formed The New Brood with their enemies, The Hardy Boyz. They feuded with the Hardy Boyz, as they went onto compete in a ladder match at No Mercy in October for the "managerial services" of Terri Runnels and $100,000, which the Hardy Boyz won. At WrestleMania 2000 on April 2, Edge and Christian defeated the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship in a Triangle Ladder match, which ultimately led to the creation of the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC). Following this victory, Edge and Christian found success as a villainous duo, shifting their in-ring personas from borderline goth to a comedic pair of "cool dudes", winning the WWF Tag Team Title six more times (for a total of seven). During this time, their trademark became the "five second pose" where they performed a pose in the ring for five seconds "for the benefit of those with flash photography" to mock, insult, or otherwise amuse the fans. They also competed as a team in the first three TLC matches, winning the first two over The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz, at SummerSlam in 2000 and then again at WrestleMania X-Seven. At the 2001 Royal Rumble, Edge and Christian were defeated by the Dudley Boyz and lost the World Tag Team title. They unsuccessfully attempted to regain the tag team title at No Way Out against the Dudley Boyz and the Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane), but they succeeded at WrestleMania X-Seven against the Dudley Boyz and The Hardyz in the second TLC match. Singles competition (2001–2004) Edge went on to solidify himself as an emerging singles competitor by winning the King of the Ring tournament in 2001. Edge eventually became a fan favorite during the Invasion storyline. Christian betrayed Edge shortly afterward, and the two feuded over Edge's Intercontinental Championship that Edge won at SummerSlam and later lost to Christian at Unforgiven, though, Edge captured the title later. Following this, Edge lost the Intercontinental title to Test and shortly afterwards won the WCW United States Championship from Kurt Angle. Edge defeated Test at Survivor Series to unify the Intercontinental Championship with the U.S. Championship. The following year, Edge was placed in a feud with William Regal for the Intercontinental Championship. Edge, however, came up short in the feud. At WrestleMania X8, Edge found himself in a match with Booker T that was the result of Edge beating out Booker for a fictitious Japanese shampoo endorsement. Shortly after defeating Booker T at WrestleMania, Edge was drafted to the SmackDown! brand in the first WWE Draft Lottery. Upon arriving there, he began a feud with Kurt Angle, which culminated in Edge shaving Angle's head following a hair vs. hair match at Judgment Day in May. Two months later, he would end up winning the WWE Tag Team Championship (later renamed the World Tag Team Championship) alongside Hulk Hogan on July 4, 2002. Later in the year, Edge and Rey Mysterio won the WWE Tag Team Championship, a new championship that had been specifically created for the SmackDown! brand to parallel the RAW brand's World Tag Team Championship, from the team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. In February 2003, Edge suffered a legitimate neck injury and had to undergo surgery with Dr. Lloyd Youngblood. Recovery kept him sidelined for close to a year. He was placed on the RAW brand in the WWE Draft after WrestleMania XX and returned to in-ring action shortly after that event. On the April 19, 2004 episode of RAW he and Chris Benoit won the World Tag Team Championship. They continued a close partnership even after losing the title, but it was disbanded when Edge won the Intercontinental championship at Vengeance from Randy Orton. Following a legitimate groin injury in a non-televised match, RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff stripped Edge of the Intercontinental title. World Heavyweight Championship contender (2004–2005) Upon his return, Edge began to show some villainous characteristics centering around his obsession for the World Heavyweight Championship. Edge, Chris Benoit, and Shawn Michaels received a title shot for Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship at Taboo Tuesday in October 2004. Michaels won the audience vote to receive the title shot, giving Edge and Benoit a tag team title shot. During the match, Edge abandoned his partner (although Benoit managed to win the title on his own) and instead interfered in the main event, costing Michaels the championship. On the November 1 episode of RAW, Edge and Benoit lost the World Tag Team Championship with Edge once again abandoning Benoit and sitting in a chair and watching the match. After the conclusion of the match, Edge attacked Benoit. In a November episode of RAW, both Edge and Benoit competed in a number one contender's battle royal, but they eliminated each other simultaneously at the conclusion of the match, resulting in a draw. As a result, Triple H was forced to defend the title in a triple threat match. In the match, Benoit locked on the Crippler Crossface on Edge, who shifted his weight putting Benoit's shoulders on the mat for a pin. This match also ended in a draw for Benoit and Edge, as Benoit made Edge submit at the same time the referee counted a pinfall for Edge. As a result, the World Heavyweight title was vacated the following week on RAW. In January 2005, Edge competed in his first Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. Shawn Michaels (acting as special guest referee) performed a superkick on Edge, in retaliation for an accidental spear by Edge, causing Edge to be the first eliminated. This led to a match at the Royal Rumble later in the month, in which Edge defeated Michaels. Subsequently, at WrestleMania 21, Edge won the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match, gaining himself a contract that gave him a shot at the World Heavyweight championship within one year. ]] Even though he was already a villain, Edge faced even more scorn from the fans due to Copeland's adulterous affair with WWE Diva Amy Dumas, known on-screen as Lita. Dumas had been the girlfriend of Copeland's close real life friend, Matt Hardy. When Dumas suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, she was put out of action, and it was during this time that Copeland began an affair with her while she was still in a relationship with Hardy. Shortly after the incident became public knowledge, WWE released Hardy resulting in even more backlash towards Copeland and Dumas. After Hardy returned, however, the real-life situation was translated into a storyline. Edge was then paired with Lita in an angle where she betrayed her storyline husband Kane, which ended with a stretcher match that Edge won, but shortly before, Kane performed a tombstone piledriver on Lita. On the July 11 episode of RAW, Edge's match with Kane was interrupted when Matt Hardy made a surprising appearance. The situation was a real-life occurrence, with Hardy referring to Edge as "Adam" and issuing a threat to Lita as well. When Hardy was officially brought back to RAW, he and Edge continued their feud, including a match at SummerSlam where Edge defeated Hardy, causing Hardy to have excessive blood loss. They also competed in a Street Fight, which resulted in a no contest when Hardy performed a side effect on Edge off the entrance ramp into the sound speakers and other electrical equipment. They also fought in a Steel cage match at Unforgiven in September in which Hardy defeated Edge. The feud culminated in a "Loser Leaves Raw Ladder Match" at WWE Homecoming on October 3, which Edge won, causing Hardy to move to the SmackDown! brand. Shortly after the Homecoming victory, Edge suffered a legitimate torn pectoralis major muscle that kept him shelved for several weeks. During his time off, he starred in his own talk show segment on RAW entitled The Cutting Edge, dubbing himself the "Rated-R Superstar". Edge used his talk show to start a feud with Ric Flair following Flair's well-publicized arrest in connection with a road rage incident. Edge eventually began using The Cutting Edge as a soapbox to run down Flair until, after weeks of public mockery, Flair eventually showed up and attacked Edge. WWE Champion (2006) .]] Edge and Ric Flair formally met at the New Year's Revolution event in 2006 in a match for Flair's Intercontinental Championship, which resulted in Flair retaining, after Edge was disqualified. Later that night, after the conclusion of the main event match, the Elimination Chamber, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon appeared on stage and declared that WWE Champion John Cena had to defend the WWE Championship, after he just retained. As a result, Cena was forced to defend the title against Edge, who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at that moment. Edge defeated Cena in less than two minutes after two spears to become WWE Champion for the first time. In an interview conducted after the event, on WWE.com, Edge announced that he and Lita would have "hot, nasty, sex" in the middle of the ring on RAW the following night to celebrate his victory. On RAW, Edge held up to that promise by engaging in foreplay with Lita until they were interrupted by Flair, who called Edge a disgrace and "that he was horrible in the sack." Flair, however, ended up on the receiving end of a con-chair-to on the announcers' table until Cena came out to Flair's aid and performed an FU on Lita. The "Live Sex Celebration" segment earned RAW a 5.2 rating, the highest RAW rating in over a year, leading Edge to call himself the "most watched champion ever". Three weeks later, at the Royal Rumble, Edge lost the WWE Championship back to Cena. He then lost a return match on a special Thursday episode of RAW held in February. Edge blamed special guest referee Mick Foley for his loss, claiming biased officiating and attacked him. At Saturday Night's Main Event, Foley got revenge on Edge by assaulting him with a con-chair-to. They feuded until WrestleMania 22 in April, where Edge defeated Foley in a Hardcore match by spearing him through a flaming table, but suffered second degree burns. during a WWE house show.]] Following his feud with Foley, Edge began to pursue the WWE Championship again, competing in a Fatal Four Way First Blood match on RAW, which he lost to Randy Orton. John Cena was declared the number one contender for the title, until Edge defeated Cena on an episode of RAW. This lead to a Triple Threat match between the three at Backlash, which Edge lost. Edge began feuding with Jeff Hardy over the Intercontinental Championship, eventually earning another WWE Championship opportunity at Vengeance, which he lost. SmackDown, WWE Championship reign and injury (2006–2007) Edge was drafted to the SmackDown! brand, where he began tag teaming with Samoa Joe. The two captured the WWE Tag Team Championship at No Mercy. Joe went on to capture the United States Championship, while Edge won the [Championship off of Jeff Hardy at Series (2006)|Survivor Series]. After a brief feud with hardy, Edge began to be hounded by newcomer Cody Towner, leading to a match at Armageddon in an Ultimate Opportunist match, which Edge won. Edge and Joe would lose their WWE Tag Team Championship to the Hood Gangstaz (Sold1er and iRob at New Year's Revolution. This win gave Sold1er a claim to the championship, and the two began feuding over the title. X-Pac also entered the title race, leading to a Triple Threat match at the 2007 Royal Rumble. Sold1er pinned X-Pac, winning the championship without defeating the champion. Edge was forced to take some time off due to a legitimately torn left pectoral muscle injury sustained during the match. ECW and return to RAW (2007) Edge returned to WWE as part of its ECW brand, quickly capturing the ECW Television Championship. This lead to a feud with Refugee Tim, where Edge publicly mocked The Refugees, calling himself "Refugee Edge". This lead to a match between the two at Judgment Day, where Tim won the Television Championship off of Edge. Edge went on to enter a race for an ECW Championship opportunity against Tim (who was holding all of the ECW titles at this point), but ultimately lost out to Jeff Hardy. Edge was later drafted to RAW, where he formed a partnership with fellow Canadian Chris Hunter. Edge went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship as well in a Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven. Edge and Hunter began feuding with The Kingdom (Patrick Lawler and The Manhunter), leading to a one-on-one match between Edge and The Manhunter at No Mercy, with both the World Heavyweight Championship and The Kingdom's World Tag Team Championship on the line. Edge won, marking his eleventh reign with the belts. Edge then became embroiled in the brand-crossing feud between Kris Kutter and Devin Jacobs, siding with Jacobs as part of his team at the 2007 Survivor Series. Edge suffered a torn pectoral muscle, however, and was written out of the storyline that night. Rather than vacate the title, Edge went on to drop it to Misery at Armageddon. Edge would then take some time off to heal. Return to SmackDown (2008-present) Edge returned to the SmackDown! brand in June of 2008, quickly rising to the top ranks of the brand. He defeated The Undertaker on the July 4th episode of SmackDown!, earning himself a shot at the WWE Championship at The Bash. Other media In 2000, he made a cameo appearance in the fantasy movie Highlander: Endgame, credited as "Road Bandit". During the appearance, actor Adrian Paul remarks "Looks like you've lost your edge, lad" after defeating him in a sword fight. In March 2002, Copeland alongside other WWE Superstars appeared on the quiz show, the Weakest Link. He was voted out in the first round, and the eventual winner was Kane. On the August 6, 2006 episode of Mind of Mencia, Copeland appeared as Edge as a commentator for "The Royal Religious Rumble". He punched out an actor playing L. Ron Hubbard to stop Scientology from ruling the world and then speare] another actor playing Tom Cruise. In March 2007 he alongside Randy Orton, John Cena, and Bobby Lashley appeared on Deal or No Deal. Weeks later he appeared on the sketch comedy show MADtv. Copeland appeared in a Slim Jim commercial where his spicy side causes chaos in a DMV, a restaurant and a hotel. Edge: a Decade of Decadence, a DVD documentary of Copeland's life, was released in 2008. The DVD illustrates his wrestling career dating back to 1998 when he entered the WWF. The DVD also shows the tag team ladder match with Christian against The Hardy Boyz in the Terri Invitational Tournament. Personal life Copeland used to play hockey with current National Hockey League (NHL) player Aaron Downey. He is a fan of the NHL team, the New Jersey Devils. As a teenager, Copeland (along with his friend Jason Reso) attended WrestleMania VI sitting in the eleventh row at ringside. He was cheering on WWF Champion Hulk Hogan against The Ultimate Warrior, and he credits this match with making him realize he wanted to be a wrestler. Twelve years later Copeland returned to SkyDome as a competitor at WrestleMania X8. Copeland has been married two times. His first marriage was to Alanah Morley, the sister of Val Venis, whom he wedded on November 8, 2001. They divorced after three years on March 10, 2004. His second marriage was to Lisa Ortiz on October 21, 2004, but they soon divorced on November 17, 2005. Copeland now resides in Asheville, North Carolina with his girlfriend, Charissa. His autobiography, titled Adam Copeland on Edge, was published on November 4, 2004. Unlike most wrestlers who used "ghostwriters" to write their autobiographies, Copeland wrote the entire book himself, in longhand. Mick Foley wrote the foreword to his book. Copeland does not smoke. He claims he had his first cigarette when he was sixteen, hated it, and has not smoked since. Copeland has several tattoos. He has a tattoo of a red and black sun on his left upper biceps (which covers a tattoo of a muscular shark which resembled the Street Sharks), a star on his right upper biceps with several smaller stars below it, two skulls wearing bandannas, adorned with flowers and hearts, below said star tattoo, along with a tattoo of a cross on his left forearm, and another tattoo of a scroll like piece of paper that adorns the words Rise Above. All of Copeland's tattoos represent a stage in his career: his sun, which Copeland got while recovering from his neck injury, represents "looking towards brighter days." The cross tattoo represents his time with the Brood, and his star and skull tattoos represent his Rated R Superstar persona and his self-proclaimed status as the "Guns N' Roses of wrestling". Controversy In March 2007, Copeland became a key figure in an alleged steroid ring and drug investigation. On March 19, Sports Illustrated posted an article on its website in its continuing series investigating a steroid and HGH ring used by a number of professional athletes in several sports. That article mentioned several current and former WWE wrestlers, including Copeland who was alleged to have obtained HGH. Copeland has previously admitted using steroids in April 2004 after neck surgery as an experiment on TSN's Off The Record with Michael Landsberg in January 2005. He said he felt it slowed him down, so he quickly got off the substance. According to Copeland, he took HGH after returning back from a spinal fusion neck surgery. He was told by doctors that it would help the bones grow back around the screws and plate that were inserted into his neck. He claims to have taken blood tests, consulted doctors, studied the drug, and got prescriptions before deciding to take them. According to a Sports Illustrated article posted on August 30, 2007, Copeland was named one of 10 superstars found to have purchased steroids and other drugs from an online pharmacy, a violation of the WWE Talent Wellness program. Copeland was said to have received somatropin, genotropin, and stanozolol between September 2004 and February 2007. In wrestling .]] .]] * Finishing moves ** Downward Spiral (Leg hook reverse STO) – 1998–1999 ** Edgecator (Inverted sharpshooter) ** One man con–chair–to ** Spear sometimes from the second or top rope * Signature moves ** Edgecution / Impaler DDT (Lifting DDT, sometimes dropped into a sitout position) ** Big boot ** Camel clutch ** Diving crossbody ** Edge–O–Matic (Sitout rear mat slam) ** Electric chair drop ** Flapjack ** Half nelson bulldog ** Inverted DDT ** Missile dropkick ** Russian legsweep * Managers ** Gangrel ** Terri Runnels ** Lita * Nicknames ** "King Edge the Awesome" ** "Mr. Money in the Bank" ** "The Rated R Superstar" ** "The Ultimate Opportunist" ** "The Master Manipulator" * Entrance themes ** "You Think You Know Me" by Jim Johnston (1998–1999) ** "On The Edge" by Jim Johnston (1999–2001, 2004) ** "Never Gonna Stop (The Black Cat Crossing Mix)" by Rob Zombie (2001–2004) ** "Metalingus" by Alter Bridge (2004–present) Championships and accomplishments .]] * Insane Championship Wrestling ** ICW Street Fight Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Christian Cage * New Tokyo Pro Wrestling ** NTPW Pro Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Christian Cage * Southern States Wrestling ** SSW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Christian Cage * World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment ** World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ** World Tag Team Championship (11 times) – with Christian (7), Chris Benoit (2), Hulk Hogan (1) and Chris Hunter (1) ** WWE Championship (2 times) ** WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (5 times) ** WCW United States Championship (1 time) ** WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Rey Mysterio (1) and Samoa Joe (1) ** ECW Television Champion 1 time) ** King of the Ring (2001) ** Mr. Money in the Bank (2005 ** Fourteenth Triple Crown Champion Lucha de Apuesta record Category:1973 births Category:Wrestlers Category:WWE for Extreme Category:WWE champions Category:World Heavyweight champions Category:Tag Team champions Category:Intercontinental champions Category:United States champions